Massive Attack - Angel live on Jools Holland 1997

Mezzanine came out initially to rather mixed reviews and a perception that it was not a commercial record, although it went on to be their most commercially successful. The record marked Massive Attack becoming a live band and incorporated more fresh, recorded live music as well as samples. Angelo Bruschini became their permanent lead guitarist both in recording and live.[25]

The lead single, after "Risingson" was "Teardrop", perhaps the most accessible track on the album, sung by Cocteau Twin Elizabeth Fraser. The song was accompanied by a video directed by Walter Stern, of an animatronic singing fetus. Mushroom and Del Naja met Fraser in Safeway. Her collaboration on three songs came about as the relationship with Tracey Thorn fell by the wayside. Horace Andy was invited back to sing on three songs, including "Angel" and a track the band made for the film The Jackal, "Dissolved Girl", sung by Sara Jay, was remixed for inclusion on the record.

The song "Dissolved Girl" can be heard playing on Neo's headphones approximately six minutes and forty seconds into The Matrix (1999).

Mezzanine went on to win a Q Award for Best Album[26] as well as being nominated for a Mercury Award. The record eschewed hip hop to some extent in favour of more experimental, gothic and post-punk-like music, resulting from Del Naja's influence. Most of the songs were started and co-written by Neil Davidge, but Davidge did not receive any writing credit on the record, stating in an interview with Australian magazine Audio Technology that the band already had to pay too much for the use of samples on the record to be able to afford to give him credit as well. The artwork for the album is a beetle.

Touring extensively, friction between Mushroom and the others came to a head. Mushroom was unhappy with the direction of the group, Del Naja's dominating role and having to appear on tour.[27]

In 2000, Del Naja and Daddy G released a webcast on the state of the band and future plans.

Around this time, Del Naja, with Davidge decanted into Ridge Farm studio with friends and band members of Lupine Howl (itself made up of sacked members of the band Spiritualized, including Damon Reece who would go on to be Massive Attack's permanent drummer and one of two live drummers) towards a fourth Massive Attack LP, taking things even further into an experimental, psychedelic rock direction.[6]

Daddy G became increasingly disillusioned with this approach, despite having supported the direction up until the point of Mezzanine, and stayed away from the studio from around 2001, effectively leaving Massive Attack as a producer.

It was around this point that their label, Melankolic started to decline. There were no releases from after 2002 and the company dissolved in 2003. Del Naja later suggested in interviews that it was in part due to the artists "taking the piss" in spending too much money and Daddy G cited Virgin Records' lack of infrastructural support as a reason for the downfall.

2001 also saw the release of Eleven Promos, a DVD of all Massive Attack's 11 music videos thus far, including "Angel", a £100,000+ promo that they initially withdrew from fear of inflaming unhelpful speculation about the relationships in the band at the time, even though it was Daddy G, and not Mushroom who is depicted running away.

Видео Massive Attack - Angel live on Jools Holland 1997 канала ClemProductions